Glasses
by Lilytoby
Summary: Cameron becomes self-conscious after he is hurt during an investigation, and Kirsten must reassure him.


"It's okay, we're not here to hurt you." Kirsten hands were raised submissively, and she heard Cameron's sharp intake of breath behind her as she took a step closer to the hysterical girl.

"Just leave me alone!" The girl's eyes were wide with terror as she fumbled for something in the bag clutched under her arm.

"Kirsten, look out!" Kirsten barely had time to register the flash of something metallic in the girls hand before Cameron shoved her roughly aside. She stumbled, and her stomach clenched as she heard his cry of pain.

The girl ran past her, but Kirsten was focussed on the man next to her. She dropped to her knees beside him and gently pried his hands away from his face, placing hers either side of it. She grimaced as she inspected his eyes, which were an angry shade of red and swelling rapidly.

"Pepper spray." Cameron groaned, his hand reaching up to rub at the swollen skin. Kirsten tugged it away.

"Better than a bullet." She joked, feeling some of the panic in her stomach loosen. She was vaguely aware of the sound of Fisher's voice rising from the stairwell past the door, as her eyes roamed around the small apartment. She spotted what she was looking for, a half empty bottle of water on the table, and rose to her feet to get it.

"Kirsten?" Cameron's panicked voice brought her attention back to him, one hand was back over his eyes, the other reaching blindly for her. She grabbed the bottle and walked quickly back, grasping his hand.

"I'm here, it's alright." She said softly, giving his hand a squeeze before letting go to remove the bottle top. "Lean your head back, this will help." She gently placed her hand behind his head and poured the water over the affected area, smiling as he sighed in relief.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Fisher enter the apartment. He took in the sight of them kneeling on the floor.

"You two alright?" He asked, concerned.

"Just peachy." Cameron mumbled behind Kirsten as she looked up at the detective.

"Pepper spray, she had some in her bag. Did you get her?"

Fisher paused, turning his head to request a medic through his walkie.

"Yeah, we got her. Poor girl was scared out of her mind, looks like she witnessed the murder and thought she was gonna be next. Once she calms down though, she'll probably be able to identify the killer." He stepped aside to let an EMT holding a large green bag enter the apartment.

Kirsten started to shuffle backwards to give the woman room but stopped when she felt Cameron's hand grabbing at her wrist. She shifted her hand to hold his properly and leaned away so the medic could work.

* * *

A couple of hours later and Kirsten was fidgeting in her chair in the hospital waiting room. Cameron had recovered enough to start cracking jokes in the ambulance on the way over, but she hadn't missed the hint of fear in his voice when he'd whispered to the medic that he couldn't see. The woman had assured him that it was only temporary and to be expected, before they'd whisked him off to flush the chemicals out of his eyes. Kirsten had been left behind to wait and she'd been growing increasingly more agitated, glancing at the clock on the wall almost constantly to track how long they were taking.

She leapt to her feet when she heard the door behind her click open. An older doctor walked out talking to Cameron, who was wearing dark glasses but looked otherwise unscathed.

"-I'm afraid we can't let you leave on your own, Mr Goodkin. Are you sure you can't call someone to pick you up?" Cameron opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he noticed Kirsten.

"Stretch?" He leaned his head forward and Kirsten imagine he was squinting at her under the dark lenses. "Have you been waiting this whole time? I told you to go home."

She ignored him and turned to the doctor. "I'll take him home, thank you doctor." The older man smiled at her and handed her a form to sign before walking back into the examination room.

Kirsten offered her arm to Cameron, who was still staring at her. He took it gratefully, looking down at the floor as they slowly walked to the exit.

"So, what did they say?" Kirsten held her breath as she waited for his answer, she knew he could see her at least, so it couldn't be _that_ bad.

Cameron sighed. "They said pepper spray isn't usually that big of a problem, but it got stuck under my lenses and..." He cringed and Kirsten stopped walking to turn and look at him in concern.

"I'm not allowed to wear contacts for at least a week." Cameron pulled a face, looking disgusted by the idea. Kirsten huffed out a laugh in relief and started to walk again, tugging him gently along.

"Is that all?" smiled wryly at him and he turned his head in her direction.

"I'm basically blind without them, which means..." He shuddered dramatically, "I have to wear my _glasses_."

Kirsten's brow furrowed in confusion, that's what this was about? He was upset because he'd have to wear his glasses for a week? She thought back to the only time she'd ever seen him in them, when she'd woken him in the early hours of the morning to check his phone. She couldn't think of any reason why he would dislike them this much.

They walked through the sliding doors at the entrance of the hospital and she turned them both left, towards the line of taxis in front of the building.

She leaned into the window to give the driver Cameron's address, before opening the door and helping her sight impaired companion into the back seat. She slid in next to him, shutting the door as the car started to move.

"What exactly is wrong with your glasses?" she turned to him, watching as he scrunched up his face in distaste.

"I hate them, they make me look like a total nerd." He fidgeted with a thread hanging from the bottom of his shirt.

Kirsten elbowed him playfully. "But you _are_ a total nerd." He sighed and lifted his head to look in her direction.

"No it's not-it's just that-the kids teased me about them at school, okay?" He said the words quickly before dropping his head back down, his cheeks tinged with pink.

Kirsten frowned at him, uncomfortable that she'd forced him to confess something he was clearly embarrassed about. She reached out to still his hands that were still pulling agitatedly at the thread.

"It'll be fine, no one will care." She said softly, "Especially not after you so heroically saved me, Stud." She smiled as her attempt to lighten the mood obviously worked, his face relaxing as he laughed.

"Oh yeah, thank goodness I was there to save you from the 17 year old girl and her fearsome can of pepper spray!" he smirked at her, "Do you think Maggie will give me a medal of honour for this?"

Kirsten laughed at his joking tone. "Or maybe a purple heart?" She offered and he chuckled.

The car came to a stop outside of the apartment building, she paid the driver and helped Cameron out of the car and up through the building to his loft.

He handed her his keys and she opened the door for him, leading him inside. He slipped off the dark glasses and turned, squinting at her. His eyes looked a lot better than they had earlier, although the lids were still swollen and his eyes were bloodshot.

"I'll be fine from here, Stretch. You should go home, Camille and Linus are probably wondering what's going on." He smiled at her.

Kirsten was reluctant to leave him, but realised he had a point. She glanced down at her phone, that she had turned off in the hospital, and saw that she had 8 missed calls from her roommate. She looked back up at Cameron.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning, we can share an Uber to work." Cameron opened his mouth to protest but she raised a hand to shush him. "The doctor said you're not allowed to drive for a few days." She left off the part about how she wanted to make sure he got to work safely. Even now she knew he was alright, she still felt the need to keep an eye on him.

"Fine." Cameron sighed in resignation, smiling softly as he gently pushed her out the door and into the corridor. "See you tomorrow, Cupcake."

Kirsten smirked at the nickname "See you tomorrow, Hero." She heard him laugh as he shut the door and she looked down at her phone to order a ride home.

* * *

The next morning, Kirsten stood in the lift on the way down to the lab, watching as Cameron adjusted and readjusted the glasses resting on his nose. He'd been fiddling with them all morning, but she'd chosen not to say anything as she didn't want to call attention to it.

The lift doors opened and they walked into the lab. Alex looked up from his desk and walked over to give Cameron a slap on the back.

"Good job on the case, man. I heard they caught the killer! I think Maggie wants to see you all in the briefing room." Cameron looked surprised but recovered quickly, nodding at his friend and glancing at Kirsten before heading towards the briefing room.

Camille and Linus were sitting at the table and both looked up when they entered. Camille whistled when she saw Cameron.

"Hey, check you out! Looking good, four-eyes." She winked at him good naturedly but Kirsten saw the way his shoulders tensed as a shadow crossed his face. She sighed internally, wishing she'd given her roommate a heads-up about his insecurity the night before. She glared across the table at her as they took their seats, hoping she would get the hint. Camille balked at the look and the smile slipped from her face as her head spun back to Cameron.

"I-I mean wow!" She stuttered, "I heard about what happened yesterday, that was some hardcore James Bond moves you pulled there, Hot Shot!" She kicked Linus under the table and he chimed in.

"Yeah dude, that was awesome! You got maced, that's so badass." He grinned across the table at his friend, who seemed to relax again as Maggie entered the room.

"For once I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Ahluwalia." Linus raised his eyebrows at Cameron, who chuckled. "That was a good job you two did of discovering who the witness was, she was able to identify the killer as the owner of a local club the victim frequented. He was taken into custody early this morning, along with the thousands of dollars worth of heroin he was keeping in the store room. It seems the victim stumbled across his illegal operation and he killed her for it." Maggie set the tablet she was holding down onto the table. "So not only did you solve a murder, but you also helped apprehend a powerful drug dealer." She nodded at Cameron and Kirsten. "Nice work."

Camille clapped as Maggie walked back to her office. "Woohoo! Go team! Now I think this calls for a celebration. Churros and ice cream in the breakroom in twenty minutes." She rose from her chair, tugging Linus out of the room in search of sweet treats.

Cameron smirked as he watched her leave, pushing the glasses up his nose and turning to Kirsten.

Kirsten felt the sudden urge to say something to him, something that would stop him from feeling self-conscious about the frames on his face. She wracked her brain for something appropriate.

She'd never put much stock in appearance, in her opinion how you look should be a minor concern. Until recently her morning routine had been washing her face and scraping her hair back into a functional ponytail. Camille's influence had led her to start experimenting with different hair styles, and she'd started to leave her hair down more, but she still didn't see what the fuss was all about.

When it came to other people, she knew what she observed but she didn't really feel differently about others based on how they looked. Liam, for example. Objectively she knew he was attractive but she wasn't attracted _to him._

Cameron on the other hand... she thought back to the night in his apartment, when she'd stumbled upon him when he was half dressed. She'd been surprised to feel something that had nothing to do with the scar on his chest, but she'd pushed those feelings away. Now though, she let them in, trying to think of a suitable compliment that would reassure him without revealing the feelings that she wasn't yet sure she understood.

Objectively, she knew he was handsome. He had strong cheekbones, good hair and kind green eyes, and if she was honest she actually quite liked the square frames resting on his nose. She swallowed.

"I think you look cute wearing glasses." She spoke, watching his face closely to see if her carefully chosen words would have the desired effect. He looked at her for a moment, shocked, before his face broke out into a grin, his cheeks turning pink as he looked down, flustered. Kirsten smiled, pleased with the outcome and satisfied that she hadn't revealed too much. He looked back up at her, his cheeks rosy as he beamed.

"In that case, maybe I'll wear them more often."


End file.
